72 OPEN-AIR POULTRY HOUSES 



break of corn stover stacked against a wire fence. In this shel- 

 tered jjlace the fowls get abundant outdoor exercise and it helps 

 greatly in getting well-fertilized strong-germed eggs. Mr. Gil- 

 lette tells me that he is a great believer in the benefits from this 

 sort of exercise and he plans each fall to have either a straw stack 

 or stover stack for each houseful to work about. It certainly 

 beats working in litter indoors where the fowls kick up a great 

 dust to the injury of their breathing apparatus. The outdoor lit- 

 ter is washed by the rain, dried and sweetened by the sun and so 

 kept sweet. They have but little heavy snow in this part of Con- 

 necticut and the fowls can enjoy the outdoor straw stack and lit- 

 ter throughout the winter. Although the houses are not very far 

 apart and there are 150 breeders allowed to each house the flocks 

 do not mix to any great extent, not enough to cause any trouble. 

 "Fig. 22" shows a row of six Gillette houses on the Sugar Brook 

 Farm range for breeding stock and although taken in bad weather 

 the birds will be seen at work outside the houses. This open-front 

 house is a practical one and appears to be well adapted to free 

 range work with poultry on a large plant. If I M^ere operating I 

 would not bother with the cloth screen or curtain. 



